Sarah and Jared Twogood, of Dickinson, stand on the fi eld at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, following North Dakota State University’s victory over Illinois State in their fourth consecutive FCS championship game on Jan. 10, 2015.
Dave and Kay Moody aren’t exactly superstitious, but they aren’t taking any chances either.
The Moodys made their fifth annual trip to Frisco, Texas, this week the same way they did when they followed the North Dakota State University football team — and their son, senior Bison receiver Nate Moody — there in 2012.
The Moodys left Dickinson on Wednesday to drive to the Denver area and then flew to Dallas on Thursday morning and are staying at the same hotel they did during the first title season, Dave said, when Nate was a freshman who saw playing time in NDSU’s first title win.
“It’s kind of full circle,” Dave said. “That’s what we did the first year and we figured, let’s do it.”
It doesn’t matter how how few pro athletes we produce, North Dakota sports have always been great. From Class B basketball to 9-man football and American Legion baseball, we take pride in our schools and their teams because — for many of us — it’s an outstanding source of community pride.
When it comes to fall, the world feels so much better when the football you care about is good too. And life is good lately for southwest North Dakotans who pay attention the local guys on the gridiron.
Dickinson High is the No. 2-ranked team in North Dakota Class 3A football. Dickinson State and Dickinson Trinity both have winning records, and North Dakota State and the University of North Dakota once again played on the same fi eld. Continue reading “Life is better with good football”
RICHARDTON — A possible outbreak of MRSA staph infection led to the postponement of the season-opening 9-man football game between Richardton-Taylor-Hebron and Hettinger-Scranton on Friday.
Richardton-Taylor High School Superintendent Brent Bautz said one student, a member of the football team, has a confi rmed case of MRSA — a bacterial skin infection — and that other students, including football players, complained of skin sores on Friday and were sent to health care facilities for treatment and testing.
However, their skin cultures won’t be available until Monday. Because of that, Bautz said it was only right to postpone the football game, which was scheduled for Friday night in Richardton.
Seattle Seahawks fan Wendy Wilson, left, and New England Patriots fan Jace Schillinger — both employees at Dickinson State University — spoke with me about why they like the teams they do and about the hate each team receives heading into Super Bowl XLIX
Do we really have to watch the Super Bowl today? Does anyone actually like the Seattle Seahawks? Or did they just get fans about three years ago.
How could anyone — especially in western North Dakota — really be a fan of the New England Patriots? I’m from New England, N.D., and I don’t know anyone there who likes the Patriots.
Around here, we’ve got cheeseheads, people who know the lyrics to “Skol Vikings” and a few who are praying that Peyton Manning starts aging like Benjamin Button. Then there are those staunch supporters of more traditional powerhouses who still wax poetic about the days of Steel Curtains, Super Bowl Shuffles or “America’s Team.” And, of course, there are people like me, who support a team that no longer knows how to beat the Seahawks.
So, with all the hubbub over the Patriots’ Deflategate, Marshawn Lynch’s interview skills, and the general dislike levied upon the two Super Bowl teams by opposing fans — including myself — I decided to seek out both a Seahawks fan and a Patriots fan to see what they had to say about today’s game, and chat about what made them fans of their teams.
Today, another football season ends. No other season will ever be like it — and I don’t say that in the way you think.
The game America has made not so much its pastime but its tradition is an ever-changing entity.
In some ways, it has to be. I mean, would you still watch it if the forward pass remained illegal? Would the game even exist today had that rule not been changed?
As we enter what could be a memorable Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and their NFL-best offense against the Seattle Seahawks’ No. 1-ranked defense in the first cold-weather Super Bowl in decades, football is beginning to show signs of change.
Dustin Monke 